Strange Magic, Stranger friends
by Elizabehta Beilschmidt
Summary: When Marianne finds Roland in the arms of another woman on the wedding day she flies away from her castle, trying to ease the pain in her chest. A miscalculation that took her off course made her land on the Dark Forest for the second time that day, and right into an horde of goblins... and their King.
1. Chapter 1

I already posted this on AO3, but I like to have my stuff organized and in its place.

* * *

 _What do you get for falling in love?_

 _A guy with a pin to burst your bubble._

Marianne flew at high speed, far from the castle, far from Dawn, far from her father, the wedding and Roland. Only her pixies accompanied her in her madness, a little worried and flustered, but managing to keep up with the speed she was going at.

"How could you?" she thought out loud, "And in the wedding day!"

She felt stupid. Stupid and weak. For letting this go so far and for missing the red flags she had been getting from her ex-fiancé. Because this wasn't the first time she felt insecure about this whole thing in the three months they had been dating before getting engaged.

She had lost count of how many times he declined meeting with her because of "something important" that came up. What a cheating bastard! A liar! A son of a-!

"Woah!" she hit a flower she didn't see and lost her balance, losing control of her flight and rolling mid-air to the ground without any way to stop her. She felt like her wings were on fire, and cursed loudly at the perspective of having broken anything on them.

The fairy crashed into the floor with an undignified grunt, cursing loudly and screaming like a banshee for reasons that had nothing to do with pain. At least not physical pain. She felt lonely and humiliated, something she never had to feel before.

From her place in the dirt she blindly checked her wings' state, folding and unfolding them tentatively, happy when she didn't feel any more pain apart from the cramped muscles of her back. A bit of resting and she was good to go.

"You have quite the language there, _fairy_ ," a voice she didn't recognize startled her, making her look up to the face of… a goblin.

But it wasn't just any goblin, it was the King! Bog, she thinks it was his name from what she remembers of her dad's politics classes back in the castle.

"No eating!" his scream made her jump, but she realized that he wasn't talking to her. "Brutus! I'm watching you!"

From somewhere behind her another goblin made a sound of regret.

Marianne blinked and jumped to her feet, finally realizing that she was in the Dark Forest. And a horde of goblins were surrounding her, with their King among them. She was toast.

"I come… in peace?" she smiled weakly.

Bog King eyed her, as if considering killing her or not.

"You know you are trespassing, right?"

"Yep."

"Did you come for a primrose petal?" his wings made an appearance, softly vibrating on his back and making him look more menacing.

"Nope," Marianne looked at the already cut primroses on the floor. They were cutting them when she abruptly made her appearance, she noticed. "To hell with those damn flowers. If you need help I can provide another pair of hands, by the way"

Bog blinked, astonished.

"Really?"

"Sure, why not? I have nothing to do. My plans for today are cancelled." Marianne looked down to her ruined wedding gown and clicked her tongue in distaste.

"How can I be sure that you are not a spy from the fairies, looking for a weakness?" Bog narrowed his eyes at her. She sighed.

"Look, if you want me to go, I'll go. I'm too tired for this right now. I found my fiancé with his tongue deep into another woman's throat not even an hour ago and my dad must be furious with me for cancelling the wedding at last minute and leaving without telling anyone. So yeah, I'm not in the mood to argue with distrusting goblins right now."

"This one is feisty," a goblin commented in the tense silence that followed, but Marianne kept looking at Bog in the eyes with determination.

She didn't know what passed on his mind then to make his striking blue eyes shine with so much emotion and understanding, but whatever it was managed to make him relax and sigh in exasperation.

"At least you are not singing," he finally said.

Marianne couldn't stop the laughter that erupted from deep into her chest.


	2. Chapter 2

"I've been thinking about changing my clothing style," Marianne commented and grunted when the primroses weighted more than she expected. "The whole "princess" business just doesn't work for me anymore."

A few steps away from her, Bog King snorted.

"I thought you fairies liked to be all "ethereal" with your colorful clothes."

"Most do," she shrugged and let the flowers she was holding fall unceremoniously to the floor. "And I did once upon a time, but it only reminds me of Roland. He was the one that most enjoyed watching me in frilly dresses and uncomfortable but pretty clothes. He _always_ put looks before anything else."

"Then why were you with him?" Bog cocked his head, slashing another primrose and letting Marianne pick it up mid-air to let it fall slowly to the floor. As they were the only ones capable of flight they decided to work together to get it done faster.

"I did put looks before anything else, too," she sighed as she descended softly, not seeing the flinch the goblin did at her words. "But what happened with… _him_ helped me snap out of it. Roland may have the perfect smile and the blondest hair, but he is rotten and ugly on the inside. That fake, cheating, two-timer, son of a-!"

"Woah there!" he interrupted her, "I get it, I get it."

Marianne sighed as she flew up again, her shoulders sagging a bit and her expression one of a person who is lost.

"I feel so _stupid_. All this time I've been played by that idiot! I wish I could blame it for being young and naïve, but…" she sighed again. "Well, I guess I should be grateful that I found out before it was too late. The worst part is that if we had married he would have been King, you know?"

"What?"

A loud "clank" was heard when the Bog King dropped his staff, startling the fairy and making her look at his direction. She would have laughed at how he looked in that moment, a mix between shock and horror, but she politely didn't make a sound.

"You are the crown princess? Princess Marianne?"

She blinked a few times.

"Haven't I told you?"

"No," he breathed.

"Well, I'm sorry. Yeah, I'm princess Marianne of the Fairy Kingdom." She did a mocking bow mid-air.

He nodded, barely acknowledging her statement. Because in the mind of the goblin king thoughts were going at full speed. The image of the crown princess he had in his head and the girl in front of him were completely different things. Yeah, it's true that she dressed like she was coming from one of those hideous parties fairies liked to throw; but the whole time they had been talking she was so nice and reasonable, so smart and intelligent and with a no-nonsense attitude that was like a breeze of fresh air for him. She was - She wasn't -

"You are not as princess-y as I thought you'd be," his mouth betrayed him and revealed his thoughts to her. The fairy princess looked elsewhere with a sad smile.

"Yeah… I've been told." Bog blinked slowly. Why was she sad?

"But that's what I like!" he tried to lift her spirits. Then he realized what his words would imply and backpedaled as fast as he could. "I mean, it's nice to meet a fairy _princess_ that's not all about riches and boys and singing love songs."

She laughed. _Nice save, man._

"Yeah, well. Been there, done that. I've always been different and people noticed when I was forcing it. When I met Roland I was so happy… he made me a giggly mess and act like everyone expected me to act. I felt _valid_. Like I belonged," she rubbed her hands over the skin of her arms when a cold wind passed through. The absence of sunlight didn't help to keep the body heat in the cold Dark Forest.

Of course, Bog didn't have any of those problems. Goblin skin was thick and resistant to almost any weather. They spend the cold winter there in the Forest while the fairies migrated to southern lands.

He sighed and looked at the opening between the woods, where the Fairy Fields could be seen from this side of the border. It was getting dark and Marianne had cooled off after the day's events, so maybe it was time for her to go. Bog turned back to her and started to descend, unsurprised when Marianne did the same.

The fairy was happy that he didn't ask her to elaborate what she had just said, like Dawn or her father would do. Somehow she felt at peace with the Goblin King. Here they didn't have expectations about her and weren't nagging and cunning like fairies were, always wanting to know and spread new rumours and stories. She always liked when her mother told her some of the gossip about the castle, but since Marianne was the receiving end of the backslash of the rumours she didn't like it anymore.

"You should go home," the deep voice of Bog snapped her out of her musings. She looked to her Fields and made the same conclusion as him.

"My father must be going crazy with worry right now," she commented.

"Why?"

"I've never been away for so long. Since my mother died he's been overprotective of my sister and me," Bog nodded in understanding.

They walked in silence to the border between their worlds, both feeling like waking from a dream. Their meeting had been a strange one but in the end they liked each other's company.

"Will you-?"

"Can I-?"

They started talking at the same time and stopped when the other opened their mouth.

"Go on," he gestured with his hand, urging her to speak.

"No, no, you first," Marianne forced down the blush that threatened to appear.

"Well, I just wanted to ask you if you could come back tomorrow," he looked at his hands were the retrieved staff rested, avoiding her piercing amber eyes. "To help with the primroses."

Marianne knew he didn't need her help, but appreciated the invitation.

"I was going to ask you the same thing, actually," she laughed at his shocked expression, "but I know you don't need me for the flowers," it was almost cute how deflated he looked. "Maybe… maybe you could teach me how to fight?" She offered.

"Fight?"

"Yeah, hand to hand combat and sword training. I've always wanted to learn but 'it isn't proper for a lady'," she mocked a man's voice and Bog supposed it was her father's. "That is if you want to. If not I can come back either way."

"You would?"

"Yeah. I had fun today and it helped me to keep my thoughts away from what Roland did to me. Thanks, by the way."

"No… No problem," Bog gulped and took a deep breath. This fairy was nice. Reasonable. And above all, she hadn't sang in the whole day, so she was okay in his book. "And I'll help you learn to fight."

"Really!?" Her wings momentarily fluttered with her excitement.

"Y-Yeah." He tried to smile back to her big smile, but it has been a long while since he last smiled so it came pretty awkward. Not that Marianne minded.

"Thank you so much!" she offered her hand for him to shake. "I promise I won't disappoint, teacher."

Bog shook her hand and chuckled at the title.

"Then I'll see you tomorrow!" she said and turned back to fly to her homeland.

"Until tomorrow," he answered in a whisper, looking down to the hand that had just touched her.

The day had ended so different from what he expected to. It has been a break in the routine, something new literally thrown at his face in the form of a little fairy princess. It was weird how thinking about their conversation today brought a smile to his face, and the fact that having something to look forward to from tomorrow made his chest warm.


	3. Chapter 3

"What do you think?" she asked him while doing a little twirl mid-air.

Marianne was currently in his throne room, the only place big enough to start her sword practice without potentially damaging anything of value in his castle. Also, everyone was currently sleeping in the Dark Forest and they didn't want to disturb the castle's inhabitants.

Bog was the only one awake, but that wasn't really a problem for him. His sleep schedule was so fucked up that he didn't care when or how he slept, or even if he did. His mother always complained and lectured him about adopting a more healthy lifestyle, but in the end he still slept when his body shut down.

Fortunately, that particular ability allowed him to share daylight with Marianne. They decided to meet in the afternoon until dusk so she could do her royal duties and not arise suspicions on her daily disappearances.

They decided to keep their strange friendship a secret, too. Only the goblins knew about the princess going in and out of the Forest, but as no fairy ever ventured there she was sure that her father would never know. And they were okay with it. It was like they were children again and shared a secret hideout from their parents were they were free and could play in peace.

The silly thought always made Bog snort at the stupidity of it.

"I convinced my pixies to help me make something comfortable for the training," she continued as she descended and stood in front of his seated form in the bone structure of the throne. "But they managed to make it girly at the same time. Do you think it's too much?" She opened her arms and twirled again to offer a view from every angle. She wore a sleeveless short tunic with leggins under them, the petals used on the bottom part of the set were of a dark brown color and the top a lighter reddish one, interlaced like scales around her body.

Bog looked at her petite form, not used to fairy anatomy. Her long limbs without any exoskeleton or scaled skin was weird to him, and clothes were a concept that evaded him even if his own mother used them daily.

"I don't know much about your fairy clothes," he confessed with a sigh, "but I guess it's okay? It… suits you."

Marianne blinked and smiled softly at his sincerity.

"Thanks."

A comfortable silence settled between them as they looked at each other. There was a certain peace in the company they kept each other, and both unconsciously basked on the sensation.

"Shall we?" he stood up and cracked his neck, sighing at the relief after sitting there for so long.

Marianne nodded and unsheathed the brand new sword she managed to steal from the castle's armoury.

"I follow you, teacher."

Bog snorted.


	4. Chapter 4

Marianne blew her bangs out of her face and set her pose to strike a practised swing with her sword. She had rehearsed this back in the castle, so executing the actual movement came easily to her limbs.

"Ha!" She exclaimed when the blade did exactly what she wanted. Bog parried it with his staff.

"Not bad," the Goblin King conceded with a nod, "but watch for attacks from every direction." And with a swift movement he disarmed the princess.

"Oh, damn!" she cursed, out of breath.

They had been at it for a while now and Marianne was _exhausted._ She looked up at the skylight and jumped when the sunlight was barely visible through the glass.

"I have to go, now!" she screamed and leaned down to retrieve her sword. "Tomorrow at the same time?" she asked as she usually did. It was absurd to do that, she always came and he was always glad that she did.

Their little routine of daily training was a comfortable one and sometimes Bog found himself looking forward to his limited time with the fairy. If someone said to him a year ago that he would be close friends with the Fairy princess he would have killed them for suggesting such an absurd thing; but Marianne was so attuned with him that sometimes it was scary. They liked the same things and respected each other's personal space, because they knew what it was like to be constantly forced to socialize with people you didn't want to.

She was a safe haven. He could be himself with her. It was his moment of relaxing.

"Yeah," he finally answered with a slight nod. She answered with one of her own and took flight, disappearing through the cave that lead to the entrance of the Palace.

Like she had been hidden behind something (she probably had been), his mother stepped into the throne room with a big smile on her lips.

"Is that wedding bells that I hear?" she said. Bog sighed dramatically.

"I have told you a thousand times, _mother_. We are not like that!"

"Hm-mm," she hummed not really buying it. "Whatever, boy. But please don't take too long to marry her. I want to get to see my grandchildren!"

Bog shuddered.

As if! Marianne was just a friend and even if the last days had been wonderful, they didn't truly know each other. And she was a fairy and he was… well, this _thing_ . Weird even for a goblin, a strange thing his existence was. In the remote case that he would develop something akin to _love_ (as disgusting as it was) for the princess, she would never return his feelings. It was fact.

Maybe that's why he was so comfortable with her. If the possibility was taken from the table from the start he was more open to the idea of bonding with the fairy, to get to know her and spend time together. Who knows? Maybe their friendship would be beneficial to his kingdom in the future.

But _love_? Nah, it wasn't for them.

Better stay as friends than lose sleep over an impossible and unrealistic thing.


	5. Chapter 5

Marianne bit her tongue for the fourth time since the meeting started. What a nerve did these people have! Not only were they _ignoring_ her suggestions, but they were laughing at her with their eyes each time she spoke about peace with the Dark Forest.

It was always like this since she was old enough to start learning for when she'd take the throne. The Council was a bunch of old fairy _men_ , too used to his father's reign since her mother died, too sure about their seats because of the high-status families. Not everyone was as disgusting as the two that snickered behind her back when they thought she wasn't listening, but the rest just followed them out of fear.

She couldn't wait to be Queen and strip these men of their positions.

"But, princess," one of the more reasonable ones were saying after her brief speech about opening new dialogue routes with the goblins, "they are savages! We can't risk our peace for such a silly-!"

"Watch it," Dagda said from his seat at her left side. The council man gulped. Marianne smiled gratefully to her dad.

"Have you ever been to the Forest, Liam?" she asked softly. _Because I have_ , she bit the words before they came from her mouth. "Have you given them the chance to, I don't know, _talk_?"

The fairy was speechless. The princess had never talked back like this, at least not in front of her father or in an official meeting. It was like since what happened with Roland (everyone knew about it in the whole kingdom by then) she decided to be another different person. This was not the princess they were used to.

Marianne took the silence as a signal to continue talking.

"You see, this is why making a misinformed decision is a bad idea; we don't know the first thing about goblins and their customs."

"But the archives-!" said another man.

"Old texts from a long time ago, Sheiran," she interrupted, already disgusted by the man's voice. He was one of the two that always attacked her attempts at diplomacy, "texts that can help us little to understand them as they are _right now_. If we expect actual peace we need to know the actual status of their people."

"They are savages," Liam said, "how can we even expect to form peace with a bunch of uneducated _goblins_?"

Marianne knew that these people were just biased. That they never thought about things like she did. That they have never stepped inside the Dark Forest in their lives. But her blood still boiled at the fairy's words.

"How about this," Marianne sighed, venturing a look at her father, who nodded, "we _try_ talking to them and if they don't seem very open to the idea, I forget about all of this and won't bother you with it anymore."

The council blinked in surprise. She seemed very confident that it would work between fairies and goblins, so much that it almost convinced a few of them.

"Very well," Sheiran agreed and everyone nodded. He was the oldest and people followed him without saying much.

Marianne sighed, knowing that this wasn't over by far. But she would talk to Bog about this and form a plan to make it work. She had been wanting peace between their worlds all of her life and maybe she should use their friendship to cheat all of this awkward politics.

Also, the idea of grumpy Bog walking in her sunny Fields was hilarious enough to make it worth the trouble.


	6. Chapter 6

"A peace treaty?" Bog asked as he parried Marianne's strike. The fairy huffed and glared at him, not liking that he was calm and collected while she was all sweaty and tired.

"Yeah," she withdrew the sword and instead of going for another swing she let the tip touch the floor. This was a conversation she wanted to have without distractions. "I've always wanted to rekindle ties with the Forest, even if it was only for us to stop being scared of our own shadow," Bog nodded in understanding. Goblins were aware of the stories fairy-folk told their children about them. "My father never really took me seriously and Roland always said that "I wouldn't need to worry about those things because he would protect me". What a joke!" she huffed.

Bog blinked slowly and set his staff on the nearest wall. When she arrived this afternoon for their daily class, the last thing he imagined they would be doing today was talk about their kingdoms. In fact, he thought that they would talk about Marianne's fashion statement with the new paint around her eyes, a deep purple that accented her amber eyes beautifully.

Not that he cared much about what she looked like, but she talked a lot and about everything she did when they were apart. It was like she appreciated his opinion on what she does, so that's why he thought he had to speak his mind:

"I don't think that it is such a great idea, Marianne."

The fairy stood there, frozen in her place.

"What do you mean by that?" She asked, her words coming out in an strangled shriek.

"Look, we may get along pretty good, but this is the exception to the rule," Marianne let out a breath she didn't know she was holding. "Fairies and goblins can't-"

"But that's exactly the mentality I want to stop!" she stomped her foot on the floor. "If everyone goes into this with a closed off mindset then they are only going to see what they want to see. Are you familiar with the concept of 'self-fulfilled prophecy'? I'd hate to see my idea wasted like that."

Bog blinked.

"I don't know what you are talking about, but I get the idea," he sighed. "I'll do what I can to help you, but keep in mind that my subjects have a will of their own. Goblins don't work like you Fairies do; I'm King as in their protector, but respect have to be earned. We don't follow blindly a ruler only because is King."

"Fairies don't-!" Marianne stopped mid sentence, realizing that the crown had an entire army willing to die for whoever sat on the throne.

They were really different.

"I see," she finally said and smiled, grateful for his input. "Then how about this? I only need to let the Council be open to the idea, it's not like we have to formalize it right now. Could we get an interview with you? As in, an informal chat?"

Bog blinked and smiled with a mouth full of pointy teeth.

"That could be a good starting point, friend"


	7. Chapter 7

He had never considered that hearing someone singing could be something pleasant. Since a long time ago he had disliked happy music and soft voices, deeming them weak and useless. Happy songs? Love songs? All useless and disgusting.

Fairy music in particular was something he despised above everything else. They always sang about spring and love and feelings. And their _voices_. Ugh. It send shivers down his spine. The only few chances he had listened to fairies singing it gave him a lasting headache.

But not Marianne's voice.

Because as she sang quietly in her seat on the Castle's roof, a room he had made to watch the stars and moon at night, and a room he had shared with her today, Marianne sang with a voice that didn't make him want to cut his ears off.

 _"What do you get for falling in love?"_ she murmured. _"A guy with a pin to burst your bubble…"_

The Goblin froze on the door, not sure if he should interrupt what seemed like a private moment.

 _"That's what you get for all your trouble. I'll…",_ the fairy sighed and looked down to her hands, which were mindlessly stroking her purple wings, _"I'll never fall in love again."_

Bog gulped and knocked on the door's frame (even if the door was just a piece of rabbit fur, they respected privacy in his castle).

"Oh, I didn't hear you come in," Marianne scooted to the side to make room for him. "You have a lovely place up here, Bog."

"Yeah," he sat besides her and looked to the sky. They still had time to spare, as today's session was interrupted with talk about this political meeting she wanted her father's council to have with him. "I have always liked to watch the moon at night."

"It's magical," she nodded and let go her wing with another sigh.

Bog was going to ask her about was troubling her mind, but the words died on his mouth when he turned to look at her, noticing that the purple paint in her eyes was smudged all around the place.

"You have… uh… paint-"

"Crap!" she immediately touched her face with her long fingers, glaring at the offending paint on them when she looked down at her digits. "I always forget it's there! You see, it's berries' juice. My pixies had the idea of painting my eyes with it."

"Why?" he couldn't help to ask, burning with curiosity.

"Well… I wanted a change. And get back some of my personality. Make-up and changing your face is really unusual in my customs, but I've always wanted to try it," she did a dramatic sigh, accompanied by an eyeroll. "And Roland didn't like it."

"So now you are doing what you want, huh, Tough Girl?" the King smirked in approval. Marianne laughed, amused by his new nickname for her.

"More or less," she hummed and turned back her eyes to the beautiful scenery, not realizing that she was singing again.

But Bog didn't bring that to her attention. Strange enough, he liked _her_ singing.


	8. Chapter 8

Well, I forgot to post it here in FF, but here it is!

Thank you guys so much for the support, it means a lot to me as a writer and keeps me going. Actually, one review gave me ideas to continue this fic, so thank you, GodlyJewel !

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Of everything that Dagda expected to happen on this crazy meeting with the Bog King, this was not on his imagination. And after everything he had heard about the Goblin King from Violet's father (the former Fairy King), he was ill prepared for the real thing.

You see, after a tedious march through the Dark Forest with his daughter and the Council, and a few Guards just in case, he was too tired for diplomacy. He even wanted things to go bad so he could finally stop this nonsense and go back to his quiet life in the Castle.

But they were welcomed with open arms, banquet and everything. The King seemed stressed to no end and Dagda wondered why, if in his letter (yeah, he could read and write! No one believed him until the Council examined the note) he sounded happy to finally have a word with the fairies.

"Welcome to my home," he had said, but his words sounded reaharsed and forced, "I am the Bog King. I believe you want business with me."

Marianne made an strangled sound when the goblin attempted to smile.

"Yes," the Fairy King said after a few moments of hesitation, and took seat by the other monarch on the long wooden table in the center of the room. "As I told you on my letter, we were hoping you were willing to open the old trade routes back."

Bog kept his forced smile on, making the fairy wonder why would he act like this.

"Obviously it is a matter to be deeply discussed, but I'm willing to hear what you want to say," the Council men that hovered around gasped and looked nervously to each other, not believing what the other King had just said.

Dagda ventured a glance to his daughter and found the smugiest smirk he had ever seen on her, and that was hard. Well, maybe after the Roland misunderstanding, even this behaviour was more than welcomed. He sighed.

He wanted his daughter back, but was all of this really necessary? He initially meant to make her happy by agreeing to her crazy idea, but the King didn't expect it to actually work! Goblins and Fairies were not meant to be together, to work together. Also, what would a goblin have that could be of interest for them?

As he observed the creepy decorations and the untasteful throne room, Dagda wondered if Bog King would use this opportunity to make his strike on his kingdom. If he was being so nice now only to stab them in the back later-

"Dad?" Marianne's voice snapped him out of his thoughts.

"Yes?"

"We were talking about setting a date to formally meet to discuss the treaty," she seemed to be trying to not smile. And failing at it.

Dagda blinked slowly and turned his eyes to the other monarch, whose eyes were looking at his dear daughter with a strange glint in them. Maybe if he were less spooked and more focused he would have realized that Marianne was looking back at the goblin, both sharing a private and silent moment of glee.

And if he had looked at the Bog King a second longer, he would have had witnessed a tiny, and more real, smile on his lips.


	9. Chapter 9

"You should have seen his face!" Marianne laughed loudly over the sound of her flapping wings. "When we got home he just went straight to his room without getting dinner. I have never seen him so shocked!" She did a twirl mid-air and laughed again.

Hovering besides her, Bog watched closely as the fairy did loops and graceful twirls like they were nothing, her enormous wings giving her the strength to do so. They were so beautiful, he had thought the first time he saw them when she crashed into his forest a week ago (it felt like eons ago), and he had been reminded of it when she proposed a quick flight around the Dark Forest to stretch their wings.

It was the following day to the meeting with the Fairy King and they had decided that sword training could wait. The princess was vibrating with emotion and the grin on her face wouldn't go away for nothing.

And while it was refreshing to be next to her, she was starting to get on his nerves in the castle. Hence, the trip outside.

"I think this is the beginning to a better future, Bog," she continued, ignoring the fact that he wasn't responding to her, "I think we are making history with this. Imagine it! A future where we don't have to be afraid…!"

Bog sighed.

"It's not that easy, Tough Girl," the nickname came easily to him. She seemed to like it, so he kept calling her that.

"I know, I know. But dreaming is free, right?" she smiled as she did another loop around him. "Besides, if no one has the will to change then nothing is going to change. Someone _has_ to push things forward or it was going to stay the same."

"That someone had to be you?" he asked as he flew to his favorite tree near the border. It wasn't too close to be spotted from the Fields, and you could see almost the whole Forest from there.

"Of course!" Marianne laughed and landed on the branch, next to the goblin. "It had to be me. I am the weird one, remember?"

Both snorted at her choice of words.

"I've always dreamed of the day I would walk into the Dark Forest without fear. I imagined what I would say when I met you, what I would do to stop this cold war between us…," she murmured after a brief pause, her eyes fixed on the horizon and the enormous Forest at their feet. Bog thought that she had never looked so regal and Queen-like in the time they had spent together. But then again, they didn't usually talk about such a serious matter.

"Is this like what you thought it would be?" he gestured to his kingdom with a clawed hand, looking at the fairy in the eyes.

She smiled.

"Nope," her smile grew bigger as she turned her eyes back to the beautiful afternoon from their branch. "It's better."

Maybe it was a trick of the light, but Bog swore he could almost see a pink patch on her cheeks.


	10. Chapter 10

Griselda was a simple woman. She loved her son, and her home, over anything else. She had loved her husband deeply and his passing affected her more than anyone else, but she kept going. She had a son, after all, and the poor thing needed his mother.

She was aware that this was not the case anymore - Bog was the King and he didn't need her in an emotional level, that is. The last time he showed signs of needing emotional support was when the love potion fiasco, and the stubborn kid didn't let her comfort him properly. He just acted like nothing happened and banned _love_ in the whole kingdom.

But no more of that nonsense, Griselda thought as she finished setting up the red balloons on the throne room ceiling. She was going to make sure that her baby fell in love with a girl that actually loved him back even if it was the last thing she did! Well, not the last thing - she still wanted to be at the wedding and meet her grandkids.

Marianne was more than perfect! They had so much in common, and shared their love for sparring and their respective kingdoms. Who could understand her son better than a fellow young ruler? Marianne also was everything else her Bog wasn't - she had the initiative to change and evolve, the energy to actually _do_ something. She wasn't as experienced in ruling like Bog, but she was a fresh breeze in politics.

It didn't matter that she was a fairy. Not to her and apparently not to her son. Their friendship was unique and different, like them, but flowed perfectly without much input from outside. It was only natural that Griselda herself pushed those lovebirds together to make them realize the potential.

So romantic! Different worlds, different species, different kingdoms! It was like a dream come true!

The best part was that her Bog was _happy_ . She made him _happy_ in a way that no one had managed to do before, not even her. She was aware that pushing women on his face wasn't going to solve the main problem, but she had to do something! Who knew that the solution would simply crash into him by its own?

Sweet Marianne… she loved her from the moment Stuff informed her about the new guest of the Forest. The only fairy brave enough to step into their kingdom and talk back to the King. The only one brave enough to befriend her grumpy son.

If things ended well between them, she had so much to be thankful for. _When_ things ended well, she was sure.

She could already hear the wedding bells!


	11. Chapter 11

Dagda looked out of the window and sighed, realizing that it was the tenth time he did it in the last thirty minutes. How could he not? On his desk sat the formal peace proposal between the Dark Forest and the Fairy Fields, and it was the most _reasonable_ thing he had read in the time he had been king. The only thing Bog couldn't be swayed with was the cutting of the primroses every spring, and even he agreed that those damn flowers should be controlled in case someone has the funny idea of making a Love Potion. Fortunately Dagda had never witnessed the damage from an outbreak of the potion, but he knew their history, and it was written on the records of cases when people thought it was a good idea to make someone fall in love with them against their will.

Anyways, he knew he was just stalling. What could he say? What could he do? He didn't really thought the idea would work and he was just as baffled as the Council. Marianne's idea was so wild and fantastic that no one really thought it could become reality. Not even him. He felt ashamed for doubting his daughter and treating her dreams like childish blabbering.

He just wanted the old Marianne back!

He didn't want to be friends with the Bog King.

The king sighed, _again_. He knew they didn't have to be exactly friends, but he was friendly by nature and couldn't imagine a peace treaty with no friendship between rulers.

It was Marianne's idea, after all, and it was her who wanted to be friends with the goblins and… what was that she said? Have adventures! It is her who should be managing all of this, he was just too old…

But she couldn't be Queen. She was not married! She could not be a ruler alone, it could only make them look weak without a proper King by her side. Why couldn't she just marry Roland and let her poor father retire? The young man was strong and a natural leader, and they looked so good together, Marianne looked good beside him. Happy, even.

What happened to make her call off the wedding? Roland swears it was just a misunderstanding, but his daughter hadn't said a word about what really happened and she was always out these days.

Dagda turned to the abandoned papers and frowned. If he wanted to support his daughter, the first step was to take this treaty seriously, and to do that he had to sit down and actually write a proposal to discuss with the Council, and then send it to the Dark Forest for a final approval.

Music from the outside distracted him from his task and the king looked out to see what was the fuss about. The Spring Ball! It was that time of the season again, huh?

A brilliant idea sparked on his head as he sat down again in front of his desk. Maybe…? No, the Bog King would probably refuse, but it would make Marianne happy to see him embrace this friendship with the neighbour kingdom. It was definitely worth it.

He pulled another piece of paper and started writing something more informal for the goblin King, half heartedly hoping that he would politely refuse.


	12. Chapter 12

Thank you for all the support! I'm glad that people are liking it so far.

* * *

"Your mom is…."

"Annoying," Bog grumbled and kicked a leftover decoration from his mother 'surprise' from when they came back yesterday from their flight. It was the most cringey thing he had the disgrace of witnessing. He was ashamed that Marianne had to see it too, and probably she was a vessel of his mother's obsession as much as he was now. "I'm so sorry, I didn't know -"

"Don't worry!" She rushed to stop whatever apology he was starting to say. He had already done that enough the previous day after both had their moment to vent about love and how useless it was. It was kind of therapeutic, to be honest, and it got them closer than before. They even shared the story behind their hatred for love. Well, she just talked more about Roland, as he already knew what happened on the wedding a week ago.

"I know, I know," he sighed. "It's just that… mom has been trying to…uh, play matchmaker with me for a long time and-"

"Yeah, after what happened with… the love potion," Marianne consciously avoided the girl's name. He had looked so broken and depressed when he told her how he failed to gain a girl's affection even with a love potion. He said that it was because he was too ugly to love, but she didn't think that it was the reason why it failed. The goblin was too stubborn, though, and no matter how many times she said that same thing he didn't listen.

"Yeah…"

An uncomfortable silence fell upon them. Both wanted to talk about what transpired the previous day, but they were too awkward to actually say something.

Was she upset? Did she find it horrible to even think about being with him? Bog was dying to know all of this. It wasn't like he actually _expected_ her to like him (at least, not more than friends), but a tiny voice in his head, the one who usually brought his insecurities to the spotlight, was nagging him almost as much as his mother.

(Does Marianne find him hideous at all? Or is she saying that he isn't just because they are friends?)

Marianne, on the other hand, was dying to know more of him. Yesterday's revelation made her realize that she actually didn't know that much about him, and that while she shared everything about her life (she was a talker by nature, just like Dawn, but she usually tried to control it), she didn't expect him to share the same amount. They hadn't needed to talk about anything personal so far, but still… Marianne hadn't even met his mother and she spent the last week in his home.

(Does he think of her as an annoying fairy or the comfortable flow and friendship was inside her head? Was she seeing what she wanted to see, just like with Roland?)

"Hey -"

"Do you- ?"

Both talked at the same time, looked at each other with surprise on their eyes and started to laugh. They didn't know what exactly was hilarious of the situation, but they just couldn't stop laughing after such a tense moment.

"This is weird," she commented as she was trying to breathe normally, and as he usually did, knew exactly what she was thinking.

"Yeah, I agree."

Marianne smiled and was about to say something else, when Stuff walked into the throne room and announced that a fairy emissary was asking for entrance to the Castle.

"What? I don't know anything about this."

"Then hide," Bog murmured and gestured to his assistant to bring in the fairy. "Hurry!"

Marianne flew to the nearest tunnel and almost crashed into Griselda. She shushed the woman and told her that a fairy messenger was in the Castle and that they should hide until they were gone.

"So…," the goblin mother was smiling from ear to ear once they entered a more secluded room, far enough from the throne room. "How are things going with my son?"

Marianne scoffed and whispered:

"We are just friends, Griselda! We told you already!" But the goblin was shaking her head with a tiny smile on her lips, like she knew something that the fairy didn't.

"We'll see, darling."


	13. Chapter 13

"The Spring Ball!?"

"Yeah, this says - "

"My father sent this?"

"Well, here's the Fairy King's - "

"I can't believe this!" the fairy did the tenth circle around the throne room, ignoring the Goblin King that was trying to show her the piece of paper.

Bog stopped trying to reach her and watched her thinking face with a cold feeling on the stomach. Why was she so shocked? And serious? Was she worried that this was going to be bad?

Was she mad because he would go?

"Should I... Should I refuse?" he asked with a tiny voice, his insecurities screaming in his ear that of course she didn't want him in this Spring Ball, that he would be too out of place there, that he would ruin it with his presence.

"What?" she asked, finally looking at him. Bog gulped.

"Is this something bad? Some kind of trap?" he breathed in and tried to think more rationally about this. Maybe it was something cultural? "Is the Spring Ball so important?"

"What? No, no… it isn't a trap or any kind of weird fairy custom. It is a stupid party the Royal Family throw near the beginning of Spring. It's kind of useless, and only fairies are invited because we are racist like that, but the fact that Father himself wrote the invitation is weird."

"Why?"

"He... ," Marianne sighed and put her hair behind her ear in a pensive gesture. "He was one of the people that are most against my idea of peace. He had been laughing at my plans my whole life, telling me that it was all childish dreams. After all he did to stop me, suddenly he is all in with my ideas? Something is going on."

 _Oh, so she suspects that her father wants to hurt our relationship,_ he thought, suddenly noticing the phrasing. _Our kingdom's relationship…_

"Or maybe he is actually trying to help?" he ventured, but was silenced by his friend's piercing glare.

"Or maybe not. Look," she sighed and put a hand in her hair again, visibly anxious about the whole thing, "fairies are… pretty racist," she made a face when she said that, "and proud. My kingdom has plenty of variety of race and customs, but only the fairies' ones are the 'official'. And even if elves and pixies are invited, we aren't very welcoming of them. Or they aren't," she murmured as she looked elsewhere, uncomfortable by her race's behaviour. It was left unsaid that it was even worse with goblins.

"So…"

"So," Marianne grumbled. "I don't know why father decided to suddenly change his mind after decades of systematic racism. I'm afraid that this is a plan to humiliate you for being a goblin."

"Tough Girl, look at me," Bog gripped his staff with a little more force than was necessary when she did. People looking at him so directly always made him a bit nervous. "I'm used to it. If they are going to be like that, then let them. If they are going to try to make me mad to break the treaty, I won't do it. I'm stronger than that. Have a little faith in me."

Marianne felt a knot in her throat and a tingling sensation on her eyes. Looking at Bog like this, vulnerable but yet stronger than her, knowing about his insecurities about his looks, she couldn't do anything but respect him. He was braver than she was, capable of keeping the composure in a situation that could potentially hurt him. She wanted to be able to do the same.

"Okay," she smiled and put a hand on the hands tensed around the staff. "I'll trust you."

"Thanks."

"I understand then that you are going to accept?"

"Of course," he smiled that lopsided smile of crooked teeth that made him ten times cuter. It was a side of him that she had become acquainted with recently, but that she liked very well.

"Ok, then. This is what you need to know…"


	14. Chapter 14

"It's nice to see a smile on your face," Dagda commented as they made their way to the hall where their people were waiting to start the music. "After the Roland… misunderstanding, I was afraid I would never see you actually smile again."

 _Roland misunderstanding? Does he actually think that?_ Marianne thought.

"Yeh, well…" she hesitated as she opened the last door to the dancing hall, excitement pooling on her stomach. She had stopped looking forward to these a long time ago, as it was always the same thing and the same people trying to gain her attention (Roland among them); but knowing that Bog was going to be there made it more interesting. And they could talk without making her father suspicious!

"Are you happy about the treaty?" Dagda really wanted his daughter to be happy. He had thought about this since receiving the acceptance letter from the Bog King, something he really didn't expect.

He had come to terms with the whole thing by now. Bog had been nothing but accepting of this new arrange of things, and Marianne seemed to glow when she spoke to him about details of the treaty. It has been so far a good experience for the next Queen, and Dagda could see in her the monarch she was when she managed the things needed to continue this process.

It was like a whole new Marianne he had never seen before, a stronger woman, the Queen he wanted her to be. The only thing left was finding her a King, but she had been pretty clear about it when he approached her about the issue. " _There's no need to be a King, father. I'm stronger like this, and I won't be alone. I still have your counsel and my sister's help. But if I find a man that looks at me in the eye and I don't want to hit him, I'll think about marrying. Until then, I'm good."_

She did have a point, though. She wouldn't be alone, like he was when Violet died. His daughter wouldn't be helpless and confused, she still had the help she needed to be a proper Queen. But it was hard for him to change his views, he was clear about that. From accepting goblins to letting her be Queen without a King at her side…

Baby steps, he reminded himself.

"I'm excited to see what happens!" his daughter answered his previous question, taking him back to reality. "Thank you for inviting the Bog King, dad. It was a nice gesture."

"Oh, yes. It was something that occurred to me in the spur of the moment," he laughed, happy to hear that his plan worked.

"I really appreciate your efforts to accept all of this. I know how prejudiced you are and how difficult it is to think different…"

"I must admit that I was skeptical about the treaty," the King blushed slightly, looking forward and totally missing his daughter's eyes scanning the cave they were getting into. "But now it's not the time for politics. Would you grace this old man with your first dance?"

And before Marianne could laugh and take her father's hand, a new voice interrupted their little moment.

"Or… someone even better." She knew that voice. Too well.

 _Oh, crap._


	15. Chapter 15

Bog was bored and, even if he wouldn't ever admit it out loud, a bit scared under the powerful glares and curious glances of the fairy folk in the room.

Marianne was right - there was no other creature but fairies in this room. He tried to blend into the shadows, but the hall was so bright it even hurt his eyes. Was this what Marianne had to deal with on a daily basis?

And as he ignored yet more murmurs and sideways glances, Bog tapped his foot softly against the rock flooring of the hall, trying to stop his hands from tapping on the staff. He had been allowed to bring it, as it was a symbol of his power like the Fairy King's crown -

"Or… someone even better," he heard a voice rumble across the whole room and every conversation stopped at once.

The goblin looked up to find Marianne walking into the room with her father, but that's not who had spoken, no. It has been a blond man kneeling on the floor with the brightest armor he had ever seen in his life. What was with fairies and bright colors?

He didn't know who this man was, but Marianne's face told him what he needed to know: the fairy that was shamelessly asking for forgiveness was his friend's ex-fiancé.

"You cheated on me, remember?" she spat to the fairy.

"You left me at the altar, remember?" he looked around, fake whispering so everyone could hear him. The blond man stepped back and got into position with a line of fairies waiting in the background. " _Here I am, on my knees again… I'll do anything just to make it right…._ " he started to sing. Oh no, not a song!

Marianne seemed to be thinking something along those lines, because as he sang pathetically to her, she frowned and crossed her arms in a way he knew too well. She was more than angry as she listened to him sing about asking for forgiveness. It was stupid, admitting his wrongdoing this way in front of everyone. But no one seemed to notice it. In fact, they were taking his side and they even wanted Marianne to forgive him? After all he did? Did they really expect her to act as if her tears of humiliation and all the time she spent figuratively hitting herself for believing in this man didn't happen?

"C'mon. It was only one little mistake."

"Little?" her voice brought him out of his musings. "You've got a _lot_ of nerve walking here!"

And she started to shine.

As she sang back to him how she was over all that happened and that she was not going back to him, Marianne did the most beautiful show of power he had even seen in his life. The idiot tried to get back the attention of the people around them, but she smirked at him with the knowledge that he was only making himself look like the coward he was. He ran in circles and hid behind people, he looked everywhere for anyone willing to help him. No one stepped in.

Finally, she made him retreat to the door and slammed her hands on the surface, and for one moment she was bigger and taller than her ex - she was stronger. The Marianne that swept the floor with that fairy's body was different from the crying mess that stumbled into his kingdom not long ago. This was a woman he could respect and admire, a woman he really enjoyed spending time with. Her strength went further than the physical one, as he had watched her pick herself from the floor and grow into her own person.

Marianne was -

"Now that was fun!" she turned with a big smile, clearly having enjoyed her little display. He had never seen her so happy, but he wanted to see her like that everyday. He wanted to make her smile like that, to see her grow even stronger by his side. He wanted -

He wanted her.

In the awkward silence that followed the slammed door, Bog felt his heart beat at the speed of a hummingbird's wings. He recognized the feeling, and it was one he didn't want to have again.

The Goblin King had fallen in love with the fairy.


	16. Chapter 16

On a side note: Bog's internal debate is actually based on an experience I recently had. Not that any of you would care, but I thought it'd be fun to have trivia about this fic.

* * *

It was bad. Very bad.

He couldn't love her!

How could he even look at her in the eye anymore? Be with her? Train her?

She had said plenty of times that she wasn't interested in love; and even if the crazy idea of telling her became reality, what was going to happen? That it would make her realize that she could love him instead? The goblin? The ugly creature?

As if!

He was fine with the status quo between them. They were good as friends. Just friends. He didn't need to add this crap to the equation. Not that he expected anything else than uncomfortable glances and silent horror if he ever thought of telling her.

It was… facts.

* * *

"That was _amazing_!" Marianne breathed, the big smile still on her lips. "You know… It was kind of refreshing. A new start. I have never stood up for myself like that before."

"You were incredible," Bog whispered trying not to look at her.

They were on a balcony near the room where the Spring Ball still continued without them, not that anyone was missing the Bog King. Said monarch was trying to find a good reason why he had followed the fairy there, especially after his sudden revelation. He felt like any moment he would do or say something that would give away his feelings and then that's it, she would never want to see him again.

Maybe he just wanted to see her one last time? Enjoy her friendly company one more time before she finds out he loves her. Then they could still be the King and Queen they actually were, keep their treaty up and try to be civil around each other. He could behave, promise.

"... I still can't believe that Roland has the nerve to do this. Does he still think it was okay to cheat on me _on the wedding day_ like that?" she huffed, but he could barely hear it over his still speeding heart. "And my father was pushing me to forgive him!"

"If I….," Bog realized too late that he had spoken his mind.

"Yes?"

 _Say something, Bog!_ he sighed internally. If she was going to find out soon about it then he shouldn't be afraid to say what he actually thought. And they were _friends_. It wasn't weird to say these things to a friend. Right?

"If I cheated on you I wouldn't do any of that," _like there would be an opportunity for any 'cheating'_ , he thought.

"Yeah? What would you do then?" she arched an eyebrow. Bog turned his head to the almost full moon up in the sky and thought about the situation they talked about. If Marianne was his, if she decided that _he_ was worth it, he would be the happiest man alive. There wouldn't be an instant of hesitation and he wouldn't cheat on her, but this was all hypothetical, right?

"I would let you kill me," he finally said after the long pause, turning his head to the goddess by his side, who was glowing under the moonlight almost as much as she did when she showed Roland who she really was.

And Marianne didn't know what made her brain click in that moment, if it was the pale light coming from the sky that gave new shadows to the goblin's face or the intensity in his blue eyes as he said those words; but she felt her heart skip a beat in an almost painful way. It was suddenly like the world stopped to give her the few extra seconds to admire the face of the man that said that he would rather die than disrespect her like Roland did.

She knew what she was feeling, but it was something that she hadn't expected to feel anymore. Or at least not so soon.

Because when she fell into the Dark Forest a little more than a week ago, she never considered falling in love with their King.


	17. Chapter 17

I'm back and alive! I took a little impromptu vacation after exams and I may have got addicted to Fallout 3, and I _may_ be awake at 4 am with a cat sitting on my laptop... BUT here's the next chapter.

Please take notice that I wrote this just now, sleepy and everything. I'll correct any mistake you tell me.

* * *

"Marianne?" Bog asked, worried about the fairy. She suddenly spaced out after telling her how he felt about her. Well, not _that_ exactly, but if you read between lines…

"What?" she blinked as she came back to the world of the living. Was he being that boring? Or did he say something that triggered her? He hoped that it wasn't the case.

"You were spacing out," he pointed out to her, expecting some kind of explanation.

"Oh, sorry," she blushed. Actually _blushed_. "I guess I was thinking about something else."

If she were watching him closely, she would have seen the shine leave his vibrant blue eyes as he looked back to the scenery; but as she was internally freaking out about her new discovery all she could actually say next wasn't really fitting for the mood that has built in the balcony.

"Would you… like to spar?" her voice came too weak for her comfort, but at least she said _something_.

"Spar? At this time of the night?" the fairy nodded purposely not looking at him, waiting for her blush to be completely gone. "Here?" Bog's voice was almost a whisper when he said that.

Marianne forced herself to smile and turned back to him, trying to make the most noncommittal shrug of her career.

"I have energy to spare."

* * *

"How about we make it interesting?" her voice echoed on the big cave they were in. Marianne had explained that these were the training grounds of the Royal Guard, so they found plenty of sword to choose from for their little midnight sparring session.

"What do you have in mind?" Bog asked looking at the selection of weapons. He wasn't a big fan of swords as they weren't usually made for his big claw-like hands, but he could defend himself pretty well with one. His troubling thoughts from before had calmed down a bit by now, having accepted that Marianne was way out of his reach and, as such, he was allowed to give up on her. He could still support her.

"Why don't we make a bet? The loser has to tell a secret, something that no one else knows."

Bog froze in his place, hand half reaching his chosen weapon, and looked nervously at his sparring partner. Marianne was simply playing with her chosen sword, which was very similar to the one that was usually on her hip, her eyes fixed on the way her delicate hands ghosted around the sharp blade.

"A… A secret?" Dammit! His voice came too shaky for his liking. If Marianne noticed, she didn't acknowledge it.

"Yeah, why not?" she was smiling, making his heart skip a beat a his mind went immediately to the newest secret he had to offer, one that he wasn't willing to forsake. "Anything counts, as long as no one else knows it. An embarrassing tale from childhood counts." She added like in an afterthought.

The goblin gulped and took his weapon, getting ready in a fighting stance. If he didn't want her to know all he had to do was not losing against his student. He cracked his neck and buried his angsty thoughts in the back of his mind trying to focus on the task of not getting his ass whooped by the woman he loved, as much as the thought was inviting. But no, not today.

He had to win.

* * *

But he didn't win. He didn't lose either.

They ended in the most tiring and exhausting tie of his life, after what felt like hours going back and forth, feinting and jumping around, flying to the highest point of the cave to dive back down and getting dangerously near the floor in a risky move.

Their swords locked over their heads, their panting breaths and equally flushed faces from the exercise; Bog and Marianne looked at each other knowing that neither of them was going to win or lose. They were just too tired to care about the spar anymore.

"I guess no one loses…" Bog whispered, not having the energy to speak any louder. He relaxed his arms and let the sword fall to the ground unceremoniously with a loud clashing sound.

"Or we both lose," Marianne also whispered and doing the same with her weapon. "Meaning we both have to confess."

A few seconds passed, their eyes still on the other's, waiting for anyone to speak first. Bog gulped and let his panicked thoughts flood his mind once more, his heart going at full speed. His mind voice reminding him again and again that he had to find something else, _anything_ else, to confess because he would lose her the moment the words "I love you" came out of his mouth. But he couldn't think of any other secret that no one knew, and he wasn't willing to lie to Marianne.

"I…," she finally said first and Bog thanked any deity that was listening for the extra seconds to calm down. "I… I-I may…" Marianne looked down, breaking the spell between them and freeing the goblin from his hyperventilating state. If he were looking closely, he would have taken notice of the blush on the fairy's cheeks.

Bog leaned in while she wasn't looking, maybe trying to register her flowery scent for the last time so he at least something good to think about when he went back to being alone; when the impossible became possible.

"I like you."

 _What_.


	18. Chapter 18

I'm back! With fluff!

Thanks for the reviews and likes and follows!

* * *

"What did you just-?"

"I said that I like you!" Marianne's voice echoed on the empty cave, repeating her words enough times for him to process their meaning.

"Ah… Uh…"

The fairy looked at her companion with her stomach tied into a knot. She was aware of what Bog thought about love and such feelings, and she could easily understand why. Marianne herself knew she wasn't ready to do anything rash yet, her heart still too hurt to accept anyone else in there; but she was willing to try.

Bog never expected her to behave in a certain way and he was very reasonable once your words managed to get under that thick skull of his. She needed just that, she had realized recently. He could keep up with her and encouraged her to go further when he couldn't understand or help her anymore (like with fairy issues, for example).

The thing was if he would accept her feelings.

"I - uh…."

"Breathe," she smiled and patted his arm softly. He seemed to calm down with it.

"Actually, this situation is very funny," he finally managed to say. Marianne arched an eyebrow.

"How so?" she whispered, not wanting to break the small bubble they were in.

"I… I was going to say the exact same thing," he smiled awkwardly, his body language telling her that her on the verge of a flight response to the situation. "I like you too, Marianne. I very much enjoy your company…"

She could feel that there was more than that behind his words, but she let it go for now. Instead, she chose to hug the tall goblin with all of her might, suddenly very gigglish now that the wall has been broken. She had never felt like this since… Well, she had never felt like this.

When Roland happened it was more like something her father supposed that existed and then things fell into place. She had liked Roland and yeah, his looks and his bright smile attracted her to him like every other girl in the Fields; but she didn't feel this stage of nervousness and happiness at the same time. There was always a tiny doubt in the back of her mind, the constant fear of Roland suddenly leaving her side as fast as he came to it. Maybe that was why his cheating hurt her that much back then. It was her worst nightmare becoming reality.

But right now she felt like she could fly into the sky without her wings. She wondered if Bog felt the same…

Wait.

He had said that he liked her back. Yes. He had said it.

"Bog?" her voice sounded muffled as her face was pressed against his chest.

"Hmm?" she let herself enjoy the deep vibration of his voice on her cheek.

"What do you want to do now?" _Are we going out? Are we not?_

She heard him take a sharp intake of breath as well as the small change in the pace of his heartbeat.

"You?" it came out as a whisper.

"I would like to try… if it's okay with you?" she added when he tensed around her.

"You sure? It hasn't been so long since…" _since Roland broke your heart_ , he thought. Part of him was convinced that this was all a dream but the small body pressed against his felt very much real. The warmth, the scent, the voice… it was too perfect to be a product of his mind.

Marianne shook her head and for a moment Bog worried that she had hurt herself with his exoskeleton.

"He wasn't worth any of the tears, I can see that now," she sighed and shuffled in her place so she could look up at him. "I'm not… at a hundred percent right now, but - but I'd very much love to try with you, Bog."

Maybe it was how his name sounded on her whispering, soft voice, but Bog felt like his entire body had melted like the ice in spring.

"If - If you let me… I'd do my best to make it work."

"I know you would," she snorted, taking a step back and letting her hands flow smoothly over his rough exoskeleton, finally placing them on his much bigger ones. If she ever thought of them as dangerous now it seemed plain stupid. He grasped her hands with so much care that she felt her heart swell with happiness.

This was so much different than what she had ever experienced before. Bog cared about her and being around him was as easy as flying, their bodies moving so well around the other.

"Marianne," he whispered and her eyes found his, locking on them immediately. "I think I love you."


	19. Chapter 19

**Thanks for all the support and the reviews!**

* * *

How could she do this to _him_!

And in front of everyone! Of her father! The King!

It was outrageous! Humiliating! It was -

It was a _temporary_ condition. He was sure about that. Once the elf got the love potion, he would dust Marianne with it and she would fall desperately in love with him and things would go back to where they belong. She would stop this nonsense about treaty with those filthy beasts and he would _finally_ get his well deserved army.

He knew that what he was doing wasn't proper for a gentleman like him, but as they say, everything is fair in love and war and this was pretty much about both.

He will get Marianne back and he will be King!

* * *

They were chilling on their spot up in the Goblin Castle's roof, enjoying each other's company and learning about the other, when the message arrived.

 _A small elf is in the Dark Forest_.

Bog looked at Marianne, partly expecting her to know what this was all about and partly worried about them being busted so soon. They had decided to keep their relationship secret, at least on her part of the lands, and wait for the right moment to tell her father about it. Neither felt really comfortable yet with the shift and the implications of their new bond, both very aware of the complications that a fairy-goblin union would mean for their people.

Anyways, Bog and Marianne flew down fast and found his subjects in a state of distress, running around and panicking about the intrusion. After a few barking orders they set into a frenzy search for the elf that ventured into the Dark Forest.

But when a scream was heard all around the castle Marianne knew that they didn't have to search no more. Bog knew where the elf was going and Marianne knew who the elf was. The only problem was finding out what _he_ was doing so far from home.

They found Sunny in the dungeons, pale like he had seen a ghost and looking into what Marianne deduced was the Sugar Plum Fairy's prison.

He was so shocked when he turned to face the princess that he barely registered the Goblin King at her side until Sugar Plum screamed at him to set her free _for goddam's sake!_ But before any of them could say anything else, the elf fainted and Marianne looked at Bog with a worried expression on her face.

"Is he trustworthy?" the king asked. Marianne nodded with a sigh. So much for keeping it a secret.

Bog picked up the elf as Marianne carried his staff for him. As they walked upstairs, the couple pondered what to do next. It was obvious that Sunny had to be questioned and punished as a trespasser, and there was little Marianne could do to help her dear friend. Also, when they found a Primrose petal on Sunny's bag, they knew that a serious conversation was in order.

* * *

"I came to ask the Sugar Plum Fairy to make a Love Potion," Sunny admitted without much fight, looking down at the leaf covers they had put over him. He was seating on the bed he woke up in, definitely still in the goblin fortress. Marianne was there, so he calmed down enough to be asked questions.

"Why?" the fairy asked her friend, a little frown on her face. "You know how dangerous they are, Sunny. And why would you risk your life to get one?"

"Because… because..." the elf closed his eyes, a tear rolling down his cheek. Marianne wanted to extend a hand to reassure him, but Bog stopped her and shook his head.

"Are you aware that you trespassed my territory without permission?" he asked in the most authoritative voice he had, looking at the elf with ice in his expression.

"I am…"

"Are you aware that it is prohibited magic the one to get a love potion?"

"Uh-huh," Sunny nodded as he sniffed, still too afraid to look up from his hands. "I realize now how stupid of me it was to even try. I shouldn't have listened to that stupid of Roland -"

"What did you just say?" Marianne blinked, not believing her pointy ears.

"Uh… Ro-Roland encouraged me to get the love potion," the fairy looked at the king, the pieces making sense in her head. By the slight nod he gave her, he seemed to understand, too. "He wouldn't stop crying! He said that he was very hurt by your dismissal and -"

"He was lying, Sunny."

"What?" he finally looked up and found his friend standing up with her hand in a fist.

"I can't believe he had done this! I can't believe he had the _nerve_ to use you for his -"

"Marianne…" Bog looked at her, a warning shine in his blue.

"But-!"

"Breathe," he patted her abandoned seat without breaking eye contact with her. Marianne grumbled something about ripping certain wings off, but sat down anyways.

Sunny blinked slowly as the situation finally got to him. It was like something clicked in his mind, when it was obvious that finding her here in the friendly company of the Bog King was hilariously impossible.

"Marianne?" Sunny's voice trembled a bit. "What's going on…?"

The fairy looked at him, frowning and with her lips pressed against each other in a angry expression, before she finally relaxed and took the King's hand in hers. Sunny couldn't take his eyes away from the contact.

"Listen carefully, Sunny. There's much I need to tell you but you can't tell a soul about it, not even my sister," she made a face and added: "Specially not my sister."

The elf nodded hastily, his eyes still on their joined hands.

In the next hour or so, any thought of Love Potions and the Sugar Plum Fairy were pushed to the background of his mind as his friend shared with him a fantastic tale about Roland, cheating, sword lessons and the new relationship with the goblin.


	20. Chapter 20

**EDIT:** I want to thank everyone that left a review. I'm overwhelmed by the amount of support this fic has and I love reading your reactions to my stuff.

Keep up the good work!

* * *

"I see you invited the Bog King to the Elf Festival," Dagda said, probably pretending not to care much about the subject, but his daughter knew him well. She knew when she made the proposal that this conversation was going to happen.

"Yes, I did."

"Did you enjoy his presence on the Spring Ball so much?"

 _You bet!_ She thought, but tried to keep it cool.

"I did. He makes good conversation."

"Hm," the fairy didn't answer and instead looked back to his other daughter, who was dancing and out of his reach. He had thought of convincing Marianne to come help him keep her sister in check, but it was then when he found out that he didn't even need to sweet talk her into his plan anymore. Her only condition was to invite the Goblin King to the festival, which in the moment seemed odd to him; but as the time to the celebration got hear and his daughter appeared to be unusually nervous, the pieces of suspicion started to fall into place.

He had never seen her so… _happy._ Since Violet died, Marianne took upon herself to be the responsible one and even if he encouraged her to find happiness somewhere else (and with someone else), she never looked completely comfortable with the situation. He could see now what a mistake it had been to trust Roland to make his precious daughter happy. Marianne had finally told him, after the events on the Spring Ball, what really happened on the wedding day, and he still couldn't believe it.

"I'm sorry," he suddenly said, making Marianne jump in her place. The fairy looked at him with a confused expression and waited for him to elaborate. "I'm sorry for not believing in you. With Roland, with the peace treaty… I guess I never considered that you had become an adult before my eyes and - and I'm so sorry for pushing you so hard."

"Dad?" she whispered, but he could hear her clearly even with the loud music and Sunny's singing voice on the stage.

"I always wanted what was best for you, and I'll always will, but…," Dagda sighed and looked at the people dancing happily below them, "but I can see now that I had been forcing you to do what _I_ would do and you are your own person. I have been so silly, right?" he chuckled.

Marianne tried not to cry, but tears appeared anyways. This was unexpected, but not unwelcomed. She had never thought that this day would come as her father was a very narrow-minded person; and now he not only considered her point of view, he embraced it. This was -

"Thank you," she managed to say before jumping into his arms.

* * *

"Everything okay?" Bog asked once Marianne was ( _at last!_ ) in his arms. They tried to follow the line dancing of the elves around them, but both were failing so hard at it. "I saw you crying before."

"I'm fine," she smiled up at him, knowing very well that her eyes were still a bit red from crying. "My father said some stuff that really moved me. He said that he accepted me," she said at his curious face.

"Oh." Bog said, a lopsided smile worming its way into his face. "That's fantastic news!"

"They are," Marianne smiled too, basking into her happy moment.

They fell into a comfortable silence, just enjoying Sunny's sweet voice as he sang about love and other stuff she would've recoiled from in another time. But not today. She let herself be cheesy for once and thought about the way her stomach felt like a hundred butterflies were trying to get out; the way the words "I love you" made her shiver in all the good ways. She couldn't believe her ears when Bog said it barely a day before, after their confessions. She wanted to be angry at those words, or at least a bit upset; but as she rolled them in her mind she found that them coming from her friend didn't feel _wrong_ at all.

She had been afraid of crossing that bridge with him, that once they started saying big words and making big plans it'd feel wrong and rushed, like something was out of place. She understood that his feelings ran way deeper than hers, and that he sorted them more easily than her; so that's exactly what she said to him back in the cave. Bog listened to her nervous explaining about not wanting to rush things and being scared; and then he nodded, hugged her and told her that it was okay not to rush things. He even laughed saying that it was exactly that what made him fail so much with the love potion!

Since then things had pretty much been like always between them, but the subtle caresses and long looks had a deeper meaning behind them.

"What are you thinking about?" Bog's voice brought her back to the present. Marianne took a deep breath and closed her eyes for a moment when a spin brought them closer.

"Us."

"And… what are you thinking about?" She could hear the nervousness despite his obvious attempt to hide it.

"That I like being with you," she hummed low enough so no one else but them would hear. "That I want this to last."

"I hope so," he nodded and helped her on another spin. "If I ever make you feel uncomfortable - "

"I'd tell you," the fairy laughed and flicked him in the nose. "Same back at you."

"Sure."

The song ended and Sunny took the instrumental intermission to drink something refreshing and - only to those who knew the plan - retrieve the "Love Potion". It had to look real enough to fool Roland, so even Sugar Plum helped on the condition of being set free. Bog succumbed at the firm glare of his love, but deep down he knew that keeping the fairy locked away was silly. He had kept doing so out of pride and now he had a more dignified opportunity to let her go.

"What are you going do after this is over?" The goblin asked her, both knowing that he was referring to the Roland situation and the impending formal closing of treaty negotiations.

"I'm… I think I'm going to be crowned Queen."


	21. Chapter 21

**I decided to publish everything I have written left. What can I say? I love this fic and I wanted to share it with you all.**

* * *

Marianne bit her lower lip and looked elsewhere, knowing the bomb she had just dropped

"Wha - !" Bog jumped and stopped dancing for a moment. "Really? It's great!" And when the fairy didn't look back up or made any sign of response he started to panic. "It isn't?"

"No, no, no …" Marianne sighed and pulled him to keep dancing once Sunny got back to the stage. "I knew this was coming someday. I guess it took me by surprise as… as fairies don't usually get crowned without being wed."

"Oh."

"I thought that it would happen much more in the future… Back with Roland, I would have had a chance to get used to being married before succeeding my dad."

"And… and now?"

"Dad found an old law that allows me to be Queen alone," she sighed again. "I should be happy as it's exactly what I wanted, but…"

Bog gulped. "But?"

"But everything's changed, Bog. An union between kingdoms like ours it's… it's too soon for our people. We have barely got approved a treaty of peace! How can we be together if it compromises what I'm supposed to look after?"

Bog didn't answer straight away. He just stood there watching her barely trembling lip before she bit it to hide the fear. He knew this was going to come up sooner or later, but he wished that they had more time to prepare.

"You have time before getting crowned, right? It doesn't have to be tomorrow."

"Yeah," she sniffed a bit. "But it can be within the month."

"And you feel like you are not ready." She shook her head. "The tell King Dagda. He will understand."

Marianne chuckled briefly.

"I think he searched for that old law because he wants retirement already. He is complaining all the time about me not taking the throne yet and that he needs a vacation."

"I could understand that." Bog nodded and laughed with her attempt at lightening the mood.

"You know what's the funniest part? He always said that I needed a proper King at my side," she snorted at the obvious irony of the situation.

"Well…" Bog guided her on another twirl with a deep chuckle. "He got his wish granted in the end."

* * *

The plan worked perfectly.

Not much later, Roland made an appearance and tried to play it cool. Dancing not too near Marianne, making "secret" signs to Sunny, hiding disgusted glares at the goblin that dared to dance with his future bride…

Sunny had told them that Roland managed to get him into the scheme because he was desperate to get Dawn to at least like him. He was to use it on Dawn and they supposed that Roland would use the commotion to use it on Marianne.

She was to play the defenseless part, not that she liked it much, as Bog painfully distracted Dawn into a more secluded part of the dancefloor to force Roland out into the spotlight to gain the attention of a seemingly distracted Sunny. Then, once Marianne had managed to be on her father's sight as well as near enough to Roland to tempt him into using the potion, Sunny would throw it to him on the pretext of not being able to open it.

The idiot bit the bait and the whole fishing rod.

He opened the cap and dusted Marianne with the pink powder to the horror of King Dagda, who recognized the potion even if he never had the disgrace of seeing it in action. Guards were called immediately as Marianne coughed the disgusting dust out of her lungs, opening her eyes to a crazed Roland trying to shake the guards' grip on his arms.

"She will love me!" he screamed, waiting for her to make a move in his direction.

"What's the meaning of this!" The Fairy King shouted.

"Marianne!" Dawn screamed, running to her sister. She was having a nice conversation with the other King (more like a monologue with awkward responses from the monarch) when she saw everything that happened.

"Is that a Love Potion?" Dagda asked Roland with a frown.

"I - I mean," Roland tried to explain when Marianne gasped and fully opened her eyes. "Marianne! Marianne! Look at me! Your one true love!"

The fairy blinked a few times and smirked.

"You missed, idiot." And punched him in the face.

"Marianne!"

"Daughter!" Dawn and Dagda shouted at her unladylike act.

"What? He deserved it," the princess sighed and looked at her dad. "This… idiot," she pointed at the blond fairy with her chin, "tried to Love-dust me. After everything he did, dad."

"How could you accuse me of- !"

"Shut it, Roland. I saw you with the potion," Roland stopped fighting and relaxed, knowing when he was defeated. "Where did you get it?"

"The elf...," he looked at the approaching form of Sunny, "he got it for me."

"Only the Sugar Plum Fairy knows how to make it. And she is imprisoned in -" Dagda gasped and looked at Bog, who was fidgeting and trying to make his presence less noticeable. "You knew what was happening, didn't you!" he frowned and took a step in the goblin's direction. "You knew that an elf broke into your kingdom and didn't tell me! How could -!"

"Dad."

"Not now, honey," Dagda didn't even look back at his daughter, too busy glaring at the goblin.

"But, dad -"

"What!?"

"He told me what happened. We planned all of this, actually," she took the pink bottle from the King's hands and poured some dust into her hands. "This isn't even real Love Potion."

The Fairy King blinked and looked at her daughter and the other monarch with thawed fury.

"To my office. Now."


	22. Chapter 22

**Some fluff to finish this cutie!**

* * *

Dagda was way calmer now, after a lengthy explanation about how Bog and Marianne kept in touch after the Ball, just an informal thing, and once she was notified about the elf she recognized the description and flew to the Goblin Castle and the three of them formed a plan to bust Roland once for all.

He knew they were lying somewhere, of course. Marianne did that thing with her thumbs when she was lying and he noticed her trying to hide it as she explained her part of the story. By her side, Bog stood with a really tense pose, staff in his hands. He had been stoic for the most part of their interview with the fairy, but Dagda noticed his head tilting softly into his daughter's direction.

The King closed his eyes and sighed, not really wanting to fight over this. Marianne had always been different from her peers, and so much like her mother, Violet. She saw him among a crowd. She could have married any wealthy man that brought honor to her dinasty; but she married a commoner nobody.

 _The only difference is that my little princess had to look in the wrong place!_ He thought. His daughter… how could she be interested in a goblin? He wanted to be upset with the idea, he really really wanted.

But he was tired. This situation had dragged for so long… Roland, her rebellious phase, her obsession with the peace between kingdoms… It was always a fight with her about what she wanted. Marianne would always fight for what she believed in even if it was against everyone else's comfort.

And guess what, she was usually right.

He had told her a mere hour ago that he was done trying to force her to do what _he_ would do and now he wasn't going to do that again to her -

"So… any questions?" Marianne's voice brought him back to the moment. Dagda shuffled in his seat and sighed, looking at the two people in front of his desk willing to lie to a King (and a father) to hide their love.

"Yeah, only one. How long have you been together?"

Marianne felt like the air was punched out of her chest.

"What?"

"I mean, it's pretty obvious. How long has this," he made a gesture with his hand, pointing at his daughter and then at the other king, "been going on? Since we went to the Dark Forest? Since the Spring Ball?" He rested both hands on top of the desk, secretly enjoying their scared expressions when they looked at each other.

"Dad, please -"

"I'm not going to do anything, Marianne," he stopped her before she started to fight. "I said that I'm done forcing you to make my decisions, and I'm willing to do that no matter how much it pains me to do so," he made a face and looked at Bog, who was gripping the staff so hard that Dagda thought he would break it. "I must admit, it never crossed my mind that you would be interested in someone like him. But again you never did anything like everybody else."

"Dad, if that's and insult I swear -"

"I guess this is why you never liked any boy I presented to you," the King continued rambling like his daughter wasn't angrily fisting her hands. "You may have never been destined to be with a fairy. So I guess I should be thankful that you pushed so hard for this treaty."

"Actually…" Bog spoke for the first time. "We meet before any of that."

"Oh, really?" Dagda smiled. Finally! Someone was telling the truth.

"Yeah. We… We met on the wedding day. She kind of fell into my kingdom, crying and hurt. More than physically." He whispered the last part.

"Bog!"

 _So that's why she recovered so fast…_

"I see," the fairy nodded and stood up, walking slowly to the mismatched pair that, somehow, made a lot of sense now that he knew the truth. "Then I'm grateful that you found her and treated her," in his words he implied that he meant more than the body. He then took one of Bog's big and scary hands and put it between his. "I'm very grateful."

* * *

"That went well."

Marianne snorted at his comment.

"I thought I was going to die."

"I didn't expect to have this conversation today either," he offered her a taste of what he was drinking. It was some kind of sweet beverage made from a flower only found in the Forest.

"Thanks," she took a sip and tried to determine if she liked it or not. She decided that she did, but she couldn't drink this for too long as it was too sweet for her tastes. "At least he seemed happy with this?"

"I'm sure that this isn't over. It can't be that easy."

"Well, at least we agree on that." Marianne gave him back the container with the drink and looked at the enchanting scenery of the dawn from the top of the goblin Castle. They went back after their conversation with her dad once punishment for Roland was decided (she must admit that being forced to do community labor was fitting for that selfish prick), as Marianne was too awake to even think of sleeping now.

It was weird being there knowing that her dad knew she was there. And at this time of the night, when she was supposed to be in her room dreaming about next day's adventures. But it was a feeling she was willing to get used to.

Marianne looked at Bog and took his hand on hers, watching him take a sip from the container. She was going to comment on how beautiful was the Forest at night and that they should do a tour around it, when a drop of the drink slipped from his lips and fell down his chin.

It was something mundane, she swears, the movement she did to clean it for him. She just wanted to help. But without realising it she got really close to his face and it was too late to lean back when he put the container down besides him without breaking eye contact.

The mood between them did a one-eighty, suddenly becoming something they hadn't felt before. Their eyes, their lips, they had never been so tantalising.

"Can I…?" he whispered, not wanting to break the moment.

Instead of an answer, Marianne leaned in the space that was left between their lips and kissed him for the first time since they formalized what they were. It was a simple, chaste kiss, but it was exactly what she didn't knew she desired.

Marianne felt his big hands find their place on her narrow shoulders, almost laughing at the way they managed to make her feel totally covered under them. Yet he was gentle and careful of his claws, something that melted her heart more than it was already at the feeling of his rough lips on hers.

It was loving. It was overwhelming. It was, without doubt, something she could get used to. And, what the heck, she _was_ going to get used to kissing this dork even if her life depended on it!

She was softly caressing his cheeks when she pulled back to breathe a little, opening the eyes she didn't remember closing, a tiny smile on her lips.

"Marianne, I -"

"I know."

"But I haven't finished saying anything!" the fairy laughed.

"But I can read your mind."

"Oh, yeah?" he smirked back at her, really, _really_ enjoying the feeling on her nimble fingers on his exoskeleton, successfully caging his face to only look at her. Not that he was going to do anything else tonight. "Then what am I thinking right now?"

"Hmmmm," she faked thinking the answer. "You want… another kiss?"

He chuckled. "Maybe."

This time he leaned in and kissed her a little bit harder than the last kiss. She wasn't complaining, though, and she let herself enjoy his enthusiasm.

She felt him _everywhere_ , his hands con her cool skin, his warm lips on her own. This could last forever and she wouldn't complain.

Suddenly, she felt his tongue softly grace her lower lip in a movement she was familiar with. Her heart did a flop and her stomach started to be filled with butterflies as she thought that _oh my god_. But she wasn't nervous, of that she was positive.

She was afraid of wanting too much, of being too much.

" _Tough girl_ ," he whispered when they parted a bit to breath, and that did the trick. Something inside of her unraveled and all of her subdued passion, which once upon a time was tainted by bad memories, make an stellar appearance.

It was her who this time attacked the other with maybe too much enthusiasm, pushing the goblin to the floor in what she wanted to be a swift movement but turned out a bit awkward. Marianne blushed, opening her eyes and trying to see if he was hurt.

"Sorry -" she started to say, but was interrupted.

"Don't be," Bog grumbled from under her in an even deeper voice, his bright eyes shining with love, passion and adoration. She shivered, but not because she was cold.

She jumped to his awaiting lips, fully prepared to what was coming next. She wanted it, she wanted him. She wanted to replace bad memories with new ones, including learning to kiss again.

She pushed her tongue inside his mouth, not like he put much resistance, for a moment forgetting about the beverage he was drinking before. He tasted sweet and a little bit citric, but she liked it. She liked kissing him.

"I love you," she said between breaths.

"I love you," Bog responded in a husky voice, sending even more shivers down her spine.

Yep, she could get used to this.


	23. Epilogue

Marianne had rehearsed this. She could do it. She born to do it. She was more than prepared.

 _I can do this_ , she reminded herself and took the first step to her future.

Well, she was just being melodramatic. Of course, this was nothing more than a formality. She was born to succeed her father, and with his age, her coronation was more than due. She was well loved by all, and since her anti-racist act she had been delighted to find her popularity skyrocketing.

Obviously, not everyone was pleased by her "too modern" style of leadership. For some, she was a threat to their culture, a foolish child whose aim was to "destroy all tradition" and let their Lands succumb under savages' anarchy. How could she throw generations of traditions out of the window just for one puerile dream?

How could she love a goblin?

Some accused her of treason, of being a depraved sick bastard, of wasting her beauty. Some wanted her to give up the throne because _who would want a tainted fairy to be Queen?_ Fortunately, those who chose to be blind to Bog's good qualities were few; and when the people, _her_ people, supported her decisions full on and didn't back their demands - with time, they simply disappeared from the picture.

They resigned from their Council positions as a protest, claiming that they refused to offer counsel to such a broken dictator; but when Marianne's first rules as Queen tilted the people's opinion in her favor, her engagement with the Dark Forest's King was unquestionable. And the fools didn't get their seats back.

"Who are you?" her father asked her before everyone gathered on the Castle's outside grounds. She wanted to make this an outdoor event, as the weather was perfect, to allow everyone who desired to come would be able to.

"I am Marianne, daughter of Dagda and Violet, rulers of the Fields."

Dagda nodded and signaled to a fellow fairy to bring a wooden case. She knew what was inside, but she had never actually seen it. It was tradition to pledge on the crown, for the woman, and on the sword, for the male. As she was going to be crowned alone, they chose a middle ground that could be a symbol of power for her alone and that if she (when she) got married, she didn't have to adapt for it.

The King opened the beautiful case to reveal a even more beautiful shining sword that rested inside in soft violet petals. Marianne felt a tear wanting to get out of her eyes at the detail.

The sword was fitting to belong to a ruler, that was clear. In structure, the weapon was functional to be wielded, as the blade looked sharp and balanced for her body type. She could already see herself swinging it around like it was an extension of her arm.

But what really caught the eye was the silver pommel inlaid with gold and pieces of polished rocks that were invaluable. They were weaved around where her hand would rest, mimicking butterfly wings like hers. She blinked and watched closer, noticing fine details that weren't usually seen in fairy decoration.

Thin tree branches surrounded the wings like fine veins, not crushing them but making another protective layer as well as supporting structure for the untouched wings. She recognized those spiky specimens, of course she did. Bog rescued her once when she got stuck with her enormous wings back in the Dark Forest.

With this knowledge, she looked back at the polished stones and noticed one that was also familiar - an amber resting in the center on the handle. It wasn't that big, and it didn't outshine the other stones from her native Fields. Instead, it made the colors really pop.

She couldn't dwell much on the discovery as her dad continued talking like time hadn't stopped for her.

"Do you, Mariane, daughter of the Fields, and my daughter, accept this as a symbol of your power to guide and protect your people and to honor your ancestors?"

She put her right hand on the sword and looked at her father in the eyes. "I do."

"Do you promise to rule with your head?"

"I do," she smiled, still trying to look serious enough.

"Do you promise to rule with your heart?"

Marianne _really_ wanted to quickly look at the place she knew _he_ was going to be, but kept her eyes on her father. "I do."

Dagda smiled too. Then, he took the sword from the case and put it between them in vertical position before lowering it and offering the weapon to his daughter. She took it without hesitation and for a little moment marveled at the way it fit perfectly in her hands. Marianne gave her father one final look before turning back to her subjects, sword high in the air, and proclaimed her new status:

"I am Queen Marianne of the Fairy Fields!"

"Long live the Queen!" everyone shouted in response before bowing before for their new ruler. A few of the attendants didn't bow, but she didn't care.

Instead of giving them the pleasure of her attention, she looked up to the invited goblins that were riding fireflies above their heads. She quickly spotted Griselda, always smiling and enthusiastic, and besides her…

Bog smiled and bowed briefly to her, visibly proud of her and happy for his fiancée. Were those tears in his eyes? From the distance she couldn't be sure, but she made a mental note to mock him about it later, once things had calmed down a bit.

People started then to clap happily for their Queen, her sister and Sunny being the loudest in the crowd. Of course.

Marianne took a deep breath and looked down at her sword, softly caressing the amber on the heart of the butterfly. It was a cute detail, and now those suspicious times when her father and Bog disappeared for hours finally made sense. She snorted.

She looked up to her people (they had always been her people, now it was just official) and wondered if she would have been this happy and _complete_ if things were different. If she hadn't found out about Roland. If she hadn't met Bog.

Marianne shook her head and stepped down to greet her subjects. It was stupid to wonder what it would have been. This was the life she had chosen for herself, despite the ups and downs, and despite the pain she had to endure to get here.

But guess what? She would gladly live through it again if it meant getting up to this point. Because as she watched Bog softly fly down to her and take her hands on his, she knew that she had found the reason for all the heartbreak.

"You did it, Tough Girl," he whispered for only them to hear.

"We did it," she smiled and snaked the hand that wasn't still grasping the sword around the goblin's neck, successfully pulling him down for a kiss.

"Hey -" he started to protest, as obviously it wasn't the moment for this, but she grumbled something like "shut up and kiss me, dork". He felt compelled to do so, because who can deny a Queen?

And as they kissed, the room exploded into even louder applauses.

 _Wild thing, I think I love you._

 _But I wanna know for sure._

 _C'mon, hold me tight._

 _I love you._

* * *

 **And this is it! This baby is finished and I can't be any prouder. Well, I finished it in last night's imsomnia episode, which I don't recommend, but at least I got the last 5k words down.**

 **I know this may be a little weak - Everything works out in the end and there's like 0 drama, but I said when I started that I wrote this to help me with writer's block and that I wanted something simple and cute. I hope the ending satisfy you and that you want to read my next Strange Magic project, which I hope I finish someday to post it here.**

 **(❁´▽`❁)*✲ﾟ* Thanks for being here all the way! (❁´▽`❁)*✲ﾟ**


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